Bicycle side rack for surfboard

ABSTRACT

A surfboard carrier rack has fore and aft brackets extending from one side of a bicycle. The brackets coact with corresponding adjustable braces which are looped at least partially around the surfboard forward and rearward sections to resiliently suspend the surfboard while holding it generally in a vertical plane.

[ 51 May 2, 1972 United States Patent Wesson 3,329,323 7/1967Tanaka....................................224/4l [54] BICYCLE SIDE RACKFOR Speir.................................224/35 UX SURF BOARD [72]Inventor: Bobby Dean Wesson, Santa Barbara, Calif. FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS [73] Jeffrey Douglas White, Santa B Calif. a part interestOct. 13, 1970 RR 99 33 l/ 44 22 22 "S "d n "h r we h t e FN 3 35 99 ll 5arbara, 709,781 517,970

Assignee:

[22] Filed:

Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza Assistant Examiner-Jerold M. ForsbeAnorney-Pastoriza & Kelly [21] Appl. No.1

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6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Sammons..........

Patented May 2, 1972 INVIENTOIC BOBBY DEAN WESSON A TTORN E Y6 BICYCLESIDE RACK FOR SURFBOARD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This inventionrelates to carrying racks for vehicles and more specifically to acarrying rack structured for attachment to one side of a two-wheelvehicle for the purpose of mounting a surfboard aligned substantially ina vertical plane and parallel with the vehicle centerline axis.

When a surfing enthusiast attempts to haul his surfboard by bicycle itis both a frustrating and dangerous endeavor. Most surfboards are longerthan conventional two-wheel vehicles such as bicycles and are relativelybulky with the result that surfboards are very unwieldy and cumbersometo carry in this manner. When the surfer wraps his arm around the centerof the surfboard in an effort to firmly grasp the surfboard whileattempting to steer the vehicle with only one hand, the surfboardoscillates up and down as the surfer peddles the bicycle and it becomesunavoidably very difficult to hold. The surfer soon becomes weary fromthe physical strain of trying to both manually hold and transport thesurfboard and this may result in impaired maneuverability and be asignificant contributing factor in causing an accident that otherwisecould be avoided.

Attempts have been taken to overcome these drawbacks by equippingbicycles with overhead carrier racks that succeed in eliminating someproblems but replace them with a different set of problems. For thistype of rack the surfboard is secured above the bicycle and aligned in ahorizontal plane which results in clearance problems for persons ofdifferent height and also presents the risk of the surfboard acting asan air foil at which time it becomes a safety hazard. If the surfboardis unsatisfactorily secured to the carrier rack or a primary securementcomponent is defective and the surfboard topples it will invariablystrike and possible seriously injure the person.

Representative of this type of surfboard carrier rack is the structuredisclosed in US Pat. No. 3,338,484 to Hall. A related type of overheadcarrier rack disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,329,323 to Tanaka incorporatesa support structure rigidly coupled by a yoke to the handle bars and bya swivel connection to the surfboard. If the swivel connection jams orotherwise fails then the steering mechanism would tend to lock andthereby imperil the person.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The numerous benefits and uniqueaspects of the present invention will be fully understood when thefollowing detailed description is followed in conjunction with thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a rack constructed in accordancewith this invention mounted to a conventional bicycle in order to carrya surfboard shown in phantom lines along side the bicycle;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view showing that the longitudinal center lines ofthe bicycle and surfboard are parallel and that the surfboard isoriented in a substantially vertical plane;

FIG. 3 is a perspective, fragmentary, sectional view showing a clampingmechanism by which the front bracket of the rack may be attached to thebicycle and hook shaped catches at the ends of the brace shaped to fitinto and be held by retaining openings formed in the bracket; and,

FIG. 4 is an alternative embodiment for mutually coupling the bracketand rack and illustrates a holding peg carried by the bracket that isbeing used to assist in maintaining the brace taut during times when thesurfboard is not carried in the rack.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly stated this invention comprehends arelatively inexpensive, simple and durable rack capable of beingremovably installed on one side of a two-wheel vehicle for the purposeof safely and securely carrying an elongated flat article such as asurfboard.

In its broader aspects this invention encompasses a rack with a firstbracket having an upright portion and an attachment end, and, a secondbracket having an upright portion and an attachment end. The bracketsare tandemly aligned and extend laterally outwardly from a common sideof a two-wheel vehicle such as a bicycle. A pair of braces in the formof resilient straps are adjustably coupled to corresponding brackets ina manner so that they may be looped around forward and rearward portionsof the surfboard which may then be carried alongside of the bicycle.

Connectors on opposing ends of each brace may be coupled to selectedretaining elements formed on and aligned vertically along an associatedbracket upright portion. In one em bodiment the brace end connectors arehook shaped catches and the upright portion retaining elements arepositioning holes. In another embodiment the brace end connectors areeyelets and the upright portion retaining elements are projections. Thebrackets carry holding pegs around which the braces may be looped andheld taut during times when the surfboard is not being carried by therack.

When the surfboard spans across the brackets oriented along one side ofthe bicycle it is suspended and supported substantially vertically bycoaction between one bracket and brace at a forward location and by theother bracket and brace at a rearward location.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring nowprimarily to FIG. 1, a rack is shown operatively mounted on one side ofa two-wheel vehicle which in this illustration is a conventional bicycle11. The bicycle 11 has a steering assembly 12, a seat 13, a front wheelassembly 14, a rear wheel assembly 15, a drive chain sprocket 16installed on the right side of the bicycle 11 and an intermediateframework 17 for interconnecting the steering assembly 12 with therearward portion of the bicycle.

A typical surfboard I8, shown in phantom lines for the sake of clarity,is positioned in and snugly held by the rack 10 and has a forward tip 18a and a fin 18 b projecting outwardly and away from the bike 11.

The rack 10 includes a rearward bracket 19 that incor porates an uprightportion 20 formed with a series of retaining elements shown in the formof vertically aligned holes 21 and an attachment end 22. The attachmentend 22 may be demountably coupled to the bicycle rear wheel assembly byany suitable mechanism such as by a mounting plate 23 and a pair ofbolts 24. Between upright and attachment end 22 is a horizontallyextending intermediate cross piece 25 that is generally perpendicularwith a vertical plane passing through the longitudinal center line ofbicycle II.

Secured along the inside face or side of upright 20 is a strip 26 ofcushion material that may, for example, be sponge rubber, plastic foam,a vinyl coating, or any other suitable material to serve as a buffer inpreventing the surfboard 18 from contacting and being scraped by upright20 that is preferably constructed from high strength metal. Intermediatecross piece 25 carries a holding peg 27 for a purpose to be subsequentlyexplained.

A rearwardly disposed brace 28, that coacts with bracket 19 to hold andstabilize a rearward portion of surfboard 18, is constructed ofresilient or stretchable material and connectors are positioned on itsopposing ends.

A forwardly disposed bracket 29, constructed similar to and alignedtandemly with bracket I9, has an upright 30 and an attachment end 31that is secured to bicycle intermediate framework 17 by an adjustableclamp 32. A horizontally disposed cross piece 33, extending betweenattachment end 31 and upright 30, is arranged level with rearwardlydisposed cross piece 25. The inner face of upright 30 is also coveredwith a strip of cushion material and cross piece 33 carries a holdingpeg 36.

Referring now to FIG. 2 it can be seen that when forward brace 34 andrearward brace 28, which are constituted by resilient straps, are loopedaround the innermost side of surfboard 18 with their end connectorscoupled to the retaining elements of their companion bracket uprights,surfboard 18 is held substantially equidistantly along its length fromthe center line of bicycle 11 with the plane of surfboard 18 beingaligned substantially vertically. By this orientation the person isafforded sufficient room to pedal and manipulate the bicycle 11 and windor air resistance is minimized because surfboard 18 is aimed to knifeahead directly into the wind or air to reduce friction and drag.

Referring now to FIG. 3 the retaining elements carried by upright areretaining holes 37 into which the end connectors 38 and 39 of brace 34may be positioned. Connectors 38 and 39 in this embodiment are shown ashook-shaped catches that my be adjustably inserted into selectedretaining holes 37 to thereby accommodate surfboards of varying widths.The lower end a of cushion material strip 35 underlies the bottom edgeof surfboard 18 which are mutually spaced by a gap D. In addition tobeing pressed snugly against the cushion material strips by the braces,the surfboard 18 is also suspended by the braces and held above thecross pieces so that the surfboard is prevented from contacting andpossibly becoming damaged by the cross pieces. If the bicycle encountersa rut or bump and either the front or rear end of the surfboard is swungdownwardly it will still be protected from damage by underlying lowersection 35a of cushion material strip 35.

The adjustable clamp 32 by which bracket 29 is mounted to the bicycleincludes a pair of mating plates 40 and 4] contoured with oppositelyfacing intermediate pickets which together act as a collar when theplates 40 and 41 are tightened by threaded bolts 42 and 43. Adjustableclamp 32 can thereby accommodate bicycle framework 17 of differentdiameters. Inasmuch as the intermediate framework 17 or diagonal strutmay be sloped at varying angles for different bicycles, the adjustableclamp 32 may also accommodate this varying condition by way ofa boss 44fixed to plate 41 that has a serrated face for selectively seating andpositively interlocking with the serrated face of a disc 45 rigidlyfixed to attachment end 31.

Referring again to FIG. 1 it will be seen that adjustable clamp 32 ispositioned at a higher level than mounting plate 23 and in order toassure that cross pieces 33 and 25 are aligned in a common horizontalplane it is necessary to make attachment end 31 depend through a longerdistance than attachment end 22. Alternatively, cross piece 33 couldproject straight outwardly from adjustable clamp 32 in which case itwould be necessary for attachment 22 to rise slightly so that the crosspieces would be aligned at the same level.

Referring to FIG. 4 which shows an alternative embodiment forinterconnecting a bracket and brace, bracket 29 includes a series ofvertically aligned projections 49 and the brace 46 is a resilient rubberstrap whose opposing ends are formed with connector elements in the formof eyelets 47 and 48. The brace 46 is shown drawn around a holding peg36 so that it may be held taut and prevented from swaying around whereit might become caught on some object or entangle the person's footduring times when the surfboard or other elongated generally flat objectis not being carried. The peg 27 shown in FIG. 1 coacts in the samemanner with rearward brace 28 OPERATION Keeping the above constructionin mind it can be understood how many of the previously describeddisadvantages of conventional bicycle racks for carrying surfboards aresubstantially eliminated by this invention.

Initially the surfing enthuiast installs rearward bracket 19 by couplingmounting plate 23 to the bicycle rear wheel assembly 15. Then adjustableclamp 32 is adjustably secured to the bicycle intermediate framework 17in a manner so that cross piece 33 is aligned in the same horizontalplane with cross piece 25 and in addition upright 30 is alignedperfectly erect.

The surfboard 18 is then arranged inside of uprights 20 and 30 with thelower connectors of the braces being interconnected with selectedretaining elements. Each brace is then drawn tightly around thesurfboard and their upper end connectors are connected with upperretaining elements so that the surfboard 18 will be pressed tightlyagainst the cushion material strips while the surfboard is suspended andheld safely above the intermediate cross pieces and by a space D.

The person may then haul the surfboard from place to place without fearthat either the surfboard or he may become in jured.

From the foregoing it will be evident that the present invention hasprovided a rack for carrying a surfboard alongside a bicycle in whichall of the various advantages are fully realized.

What is claimed is:

l. A rack for carrying a surfboard alongside a bicycle, comprising:

a. a bicycle having an intermediate framework between its steeringassembly and seat, and, a rear wheel assembly; b. a first bracket havingan upright portion and an attachment end coupled to the bicycleintermediate framework; c. a first brace adjustably coupled to the firstbracket; d. a second bracket having an upright portion and an attachmentend coupled to the bicycle rear wheel assembly; the first and secondbrackets having horizontally extending cross members between theirattachment ends and upright portions and being tandemly aligned andarranged to project laterally from the same side of the bicycle; and, e.a second brace adjustably coupled to the second bracket, the bracesbeing resilient straps arranged so their ends may be coupled to theupright portions of their corresponding brackets, wherein a surfboardspanning across the brackets and oriented along one side of the bicyclemay be supported and held in a substantially vertical position bycoaction between the first bracket and brace at a forward location andby the second bracket and brace at a rearward location, and,

the resilient straps, upright portions and cross members are dimensionedand relatively positioned so that the resilient straps may be loopedaround the edges and at least one side of the surfboard in order to holdthe surfboard against the upright portions and suspend the surfboardabove the cross members.

2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein;

the first bracket attachment end is clamped to the intermediateframework at a level higher than the bicycle rear wheel assembly.

3. The structure according to claim 2, wherein;

the first bracket attachment end has a dual adjustment clamp for fittingintermediate frameworks of varying thickness and inclinations.

4. The structure according to claim 1, wherein;

the braces are resilient straps whose ends have connectors so that thestraps may be partially wrapped around the surfboard to urge it againsttheir brackets and accommodate surfboards of varying widths.

5. The structure according to claim 4, wherein;

the inner portions of the bracket uprights are covered with cushionmaterial.

6. The structure according to claim 4, wherein;

the bracket uprights have a plurality of retaining elements, the braceconnectors are shaped to interconnect with the retaining elements; and,

the brackets have horizontally extending cross members between theirattachment ends and uprights, the cross members carrying holding pegsfor holding the straps taut when the surfboard is not being carried bythe rack.

1. A rack for carrying a surfboard alongside a bicycle, comprising: a. abicycle having an intermediate framework between its steering assemblyand seat, and, a rear wheel assembly; b. a first bracket having anupright portion and an attachment end coupled to the bicycleintermediate framework; c. a first brace adjustably coupled to the firstbracket; d. a second bracket having an upright portion and an attachmentend coupled to the bicycle rear wheel assembly; the first and secondbrackets having horizontally extending cross members between theirattachment ends and upright portions and being tandemly aligned andarranged to project laterally from the same side of the bicycle; and, e.a second brace adjustably coupled to the second bracket, the bracesbeing resilient straps arranged so their ends may be coupled to theupright portions of their corresponding brackets, wherein a surfboardspanning across the brackets and oriented along one side of the bicyclemay be supported and held in a substantially vertical position bycoaction between the first bracket and brace at a forward location andby the second bracket and brace at a rearward location, and, theresilient straps, upright portions and cross members are dimensioned andrelatively positioned so that the resilient straps may be looped aroundthe edges and at least one side of the surfboard in order to hold thesurfboard against the upright portions and suspend the surfboard abovethe cross members.
 2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein; thefirst bracket attachment end is clamped to the intermediate framework ata level higher than the bicycle rear wheel assembly.
 3. The structureaccording to claim 2, wherein; the first bracket attachment end has adual adjustment clamp for fitting intermediate frameworks of varyingthickness and inclinations.
 4. The structure according to claim 1,wherein; the braces are resilient straps whose ends have connectors sothat the straps may be partially wrapped around the surfboard to urge itagainst their brackets and accommodate surfboards of varying widths. 5.The structure according to claim 4, wherein; the inner portions of thebracket uprights are covered with cushion material.
 6. The structureaccording to claim 4, wherein; the bracket uprights have a pluraliTy ofretaining elements, the brace connectors are shaped to interconnect withthe retaining elements; and, the brackets have horizontally extendingcross members between their attachment ends and uprights, the crossmembers carrying holding pegs for holding the straps taut when thesurfboard is not being carried by the rack.